About us

The world’s population longevity is increasing, leading to increased numbers of dementia. Indeed, different forms of neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Huntington’s disease (HD), affect millions of people worldwide, and these numbers are predicted to double in a short period of time.

The disorders are accompanied by a reduction on patient’s quality of life and suffering for the patient’s families. Moreover there are major costs for the health systems associated.

Unfortunately, up to date there is no cure for these disorders. Furthermore there is no disease modifying drugs or efficient medication capable to slow down disease’s progression.

The Cellular Bioenergetics in Neurodegenerative Diseases (CeBioND) consortium, assembles a team of experts from Sweden, Italy, Germany, Ireland and Canada. We believe that it is urgent to perform a cross-disease analysis, identify common molecular pathways and find drugs that will protect the neurons from degenerating. The consortium focuses on mitochondria which are compartments present in every cell that produce the energy required to the correct cellular functions. However mitochondria can also kill cells by producing toxic molecules or by initiating a cell suicide program. These processes are thought to play a key role in the degenerative changes associated with AD, PD and HD.

CeBioND goal is to understand if impairments in mitochondrial function are sufficient to trigger AD, PD and HD or if they represent an additional risk factor for developing the disease. Moreover it is highly important to understand if mitochondria and the different ways to “boost” the cell’s energy constitute good therapeutic targets for AD, PD and HD.

The CeBioND consortium will deliver valuable knowledge into the contribution of mitochondria dysfunctions and bioenergetics to neurodegeneration in AD, PD and HD, and will provide novel therapeutic strategies of importance for both the individual patient and society.

The CeBioND consortium is an initiative from the European Union Joint Program – Neurodegenerative Disease Research.